The national parks in Uganda offer a wide range of unforgettable and extremely unique experiences to Safari goers. In this guide, we will take you through almost everything you would like to know as you plan to visit these parks on either a self drive in Uganda basis or car hire Uganda with a driver.
We will as well highlight for you the routes to use to get there, the best times when these parks can be visited, the available accommodation classified into; luxury, mid-range and budget accommodation, the necessary guidelines you need while planning for your trip and all the necessary costs.
Regardless of you being a first time traveler, or a seasoned one, this guide encompasses everything you need to know so as to experience the ultimate African adventure!!
Uganda is also known as the ‘Pearl Of Africa’ because it is a home of stunning national parks in Africa, each offering experiences such as; the wildlife- lions, elephants, antelopes etc. which roam freely in their natural habitat, sparkling lakes, and lush forests.
Uganda’s national parks offer a completely unique chance to see incredible wild life in their homes. Here are the 10 national parks in Uganda:
Murchison falls National park
Queen Elizabeth National park
Bwindi impenetrable National park
Kibale National park
Kidepo valley National park
Mount Elgon National park
Rwenzori mountains National park
Semuliki valley National park
Lake mburo National park
Mgahinga gorilla National park
Having had a brief glimpse of the incredible national parks in Uganda, let’s dig deeper into each of these national parks, be rest assured that each national park has a unique experience to adventure.
Let’s take a closer look at each national back in great details, exploring their extinct wild life, activities carried out while there, the physical features to explore while there and the available accommodation around each park so as to discover the thrill of exploring Uganda’s national parks.
Queen Elizabeth National Park
Situated about 400KM from Kampala in the southwestern region of Uganda, Queen Elizabeth National Park remains one of the most popular destinations in the country known to be home to the tree climbing lions.
The national park is approximately 7 hours by road away from Kampala/Entebbe. For travelers on a self drive Uganda road trip, you will pay $10 for park entrance for the car and $40 per person for foreign nonresidents.
Activities in Queen Elizabeth national park
Chimpanzee tracking; this is one of the most popular activities that queen Elizabeth national park is known for, like earlier said, each park provides a different thrill of experiences. With this national park, one of the various thrills of experience is the chimpanzee tracking at the Kyambura gorge.
Before the tracking of these primates begins, you are required to attend a briefing session conducted at the park’s information centre where you will be provided with guidelines to the visitors, tracking safety precautions, the behavior of the habitat and many more.
The thrill of chimpanzee tracking begins in the morning hours, the visitors are accompanied by experienced and armed game rangers. It involves quiet guided walks through the forests following the footprints of the chimpanzees.
Once the chimps are located, visitors are allowed to spend 1 hour with the chimps so as to study them carefully. Visitors are only allowed to study the chimps from a distance, taking note of their behaviors and their social life.
Spot tree climbing lions; Queen Elizabeth is also most known because of the thrill of seeing climbing lions at the Ishasha sector, which is near the Ishasha river. The best time or season to the tree climbing lions at ishasha is when it’s the dry season when the trees are less dense and lions are more active i.e. June to august and December to February.
Game drive: this is also one of the popular activities done in the national park done in comfortable 4×4 safari vehicle such as a Land Cruiser Prado, Land Cruiser V8, Land Cruiser GX manual, Safari Land Cruiser extended which gives visitors to see a variety of mammals i.e. 95 percent of the species. Game drives in Queen Elizabeth national park are done either very early in the morning, in the afternoon, or in the night. In the game drive you can be able to see wildlife like lions, elephants, buffaloes, leopards, Uganda kobs etc.
Bird watching; the park has over 600 species of birds. Bird watching destinations in Queen Elizabeth national park include kasenyi area, mweya peninsula area, ishasha sector, Lake Kikorongo area, katwe area and the kazinga channel, Maramagambo forest, katunguru bridge area among others.
During bird watching, the visitors are accompanied by experienced bird guides who help in the sporting of the different birds including; shoebill stork, African fish eagle, pink backed pelican, grey heron, black headed heron, African skimmer, Caspian plover Ruwenzori turaco etc.
Boat cruise; boat cruise in queen Elizabeth is done on the kazinga channel which connects two lakes; Lake Albert and Lake George. The boat cruise on kazinga channel is done in two schedules; that is in the morning which starts at 9am and the afternoon which starts at 2pm with each schedule taking about 2 to 3 hours but may vary depending on the weather and wildlife
Accommodation choices for Queen Elizabeth national park
The park offers a wide range of accommodations to suit various budgets and visitors references. The accommodation places are categorized under luxury lodges, midrange lodges and budget friendly options; the choice is fully yours depending on your budget.
Luxury lodges, Mweya safari lodge- 5 star lodge with extremely comfortable rooms offering good views of the kazinga channel, Ishasha Wilderness Camp- a luxury tented camp with good tents and a stunning clear view of the Ishasha River, Kyambura gorge lodges-with elegant rooms and a beautiful view of the gorge
Midrange lodges, bush lodge-with beautiful and comfortable rooms with all the best hospitality, Simba safari camp- with comfortable tents and good view of the channel, Engazi lodge-with comfortable rooms and good hospitality.
Budget friendly lodges; for example, Mweya hostel, Queen Elizabeth Wilderness camp, Ishasha campsite, Katara lodge.
The best season for visiting Queen Elizabeth National park is the dry season, that is to say; January to February, and then from June to October. Good seasons include months of March, November and December and lastly mixed seasons include April and May.
Murchison Falls National Park
Murchison falls national park is found in north west Of Uganda and remains the country’s oldest and largest national park. This is approximately 305 kilometers from Kampala and that is approximately a 3-4hr drive by road via Kampala-Masindi highway.
The park is a home to an array of wild life including; lions, elephants, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, antelopes, and birds of over 450 species have been recorded in the park
Activities in Murchison falls national park
Hike to the top of the falls; this is one of the popular activities and a must do while within the boundaries of the park. This introduces you to incredible scenic views of the falls as they descend down a steep cliff.
Chimpanzee tracking; just like queen Elizabeth national park, Murchison falls national park is also known for the activity of chimpanzee tracking which is really a great experience.
Chimpanzee tracking in Murchison falls national park takes place in Budongo forest which is regarded as a home to a large chimpanzees in the park which is located in the parks southern sector, near Masindi town.
Game drives; this is also an interesting way to explore the park and spot the different animals or wild life in the park. Here are some of the animals you might see on a game drive while in Murchison falls national park; lions, elephants, buffalos, leopards, rhinos, Uganda kobs, or ibis, gazelles, warthogs, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles baboons, monkeys etc.
Bird watching; a variety of the different bird species in the park are seen between Paraa rest camp and ferry crossing. These include spotted mourning thrush, vitelline masked weaver, silver bird, bluff bellied warbler, blue napped mouse bird, chestnut crowned sparrow, green winged ptyilia, and black headed batis. This is the best site for the localized white rumped seed eater.
The best time for bird watching in Murchison falls national park is during the dry season, from December to February and June to august. This time the roads are not muddy and making it easy to see all the bird species
Victoria Nile boat cruise; the boat cruise is approximately 2-3 hours and is operated on a daily basis. The boat cruise is $30 for nonresident visitors and UGX 30,000 for Ugandans.
The boat has two shifts, i.e. the morning and the afternoon.
Accommodation in Murchison falls national park
worry not about where you are going to stay when you visit queen Elizabeth national park, this is one of the most asked question by people.
Murchison falls offers a vast range of accommodation to suits various client budgets. The accommodation is classified into luxury lodges, midrange lodges and the budget friendly lodges.
Luxury lodges; Paraa safari lodge- a five star lodge with the most comfortable rooms with stunning view, Chobe safari lodge- one of the five star lodges, bakers lodge- luxury rooms with good views
Mid-range lodges such as; Murchison falls national park lodge, red Chilli rest camp, Zambia river lodge and budget friendly lodge such as; Murchison falls national park campsite, red chilli rest campsite, UWA Bandas. Other options include Pakuba safari lodge, Nile safari lodge, Twiga safari lodge.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Bwindi impenetrable Forest National park is UNESCO world heritage site found in the southwestern region of Uganda on the edge of the rift valley. This is one of the famous national parks and it’s famously known for harboring endangered mountain gorillas in Uganda. The park protects approximately 459 mountain gorillas which is almost half of the world’s remaining population of mountain gorillas.
This is situated about 9-10 hours away from Kampala and while driving to this national park, you will need to use the Kampala-Masaka highway.
Activities in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National park;
Gorilla trekking: this is a unique and unforgettable experience that distinguish Bwindi impenetrable forest park from other parks in Uganda. Here is a detailed guide to help you know how gorilla tracking is done;
First, you obtain trekking permits from the Uganda wild life authority which is $800 for foreign nonresidents, $700 for foreign residents and UGX 300,000 for Ugandan and other EAC citizens. Thereafter, you attend a briefing about the trekking activity at the headquarters of the park. This briefing is intended to let the visitors know about; gorilla behavior, their habitat, and conservation.
Embark of the trekking with a guided trek guide. The trek takes 2-8 hours depending on the gorilla group location. Once found, visitors are allowed to spend one hour observing and studying them while maintaining a safe distance. After all this the visitors return to the park headquarters where you are given a certificate of completion of the trekking activity.
The best time to visit the mountain gorillas in Uganda is mid-June through October, December running through March. These are dry season months of the year and are the best for gorilla trekking though gorillas can be trekked any time of the year.
Gorilla habituation: this refers to the process of making these mountain gorillas comfortable with the presence of human beings. Here the visitors get to visit the gorillas more than the usual hours’ time since gorillas are being trained to live amongst human beings. The team begins by observing the gorillas from a distance then gradually increasing their proximity.
Bird watching: bird watching is a home to over 320 bird species these bird species include western green tinker bird, African wood owl, archers robin chat, red throated alethe, fine banded woodpecker, grauers rush warbler, handsome francolin, chestnut-throated apalis, regal sunbird, collared apalis and many more.
Batwa cultural experience: if you are interested in learning about the local culture, batwa people are one of the oldest indigenous groups in the region which offer an immense cultural experience.
How to rent a safari car in Uganda?
Car Hire in Uganda is a great choice and the easiest way you can connect to the various destinations within the boundaries of the country and to rent a car for your self drive or guided trip from us is very easy.
Fill our reservation form with your details about your trip and once we receive your email, our agent will get to you as soon as possible. Alternatively, you can call us on +256 765108797 and we will give you all the necessary details about your trip in Uganda.
Some of the cars you can choose from for your self drive road trip in Uganda include; Land Cruiser Prado, Toyota RAV4, Land Cruiser V8, Land Cruiser GX manual and if you are traveling as group, you will need to hire cars like a Safari Van, Land Cruiser extended and more.
